Suzuki’s viewpoint of not being dependent only on EV is in sync with the Indian government’s strategy that has kept all the options on the table.
India’s green energy shift can not be pegged only on electric vehicles (EV) and would require a variety of other options, such as hybrid, CNG and hydrogen, said Toshihiro Suzuki, president of Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) on Wednesday at Auto Expo 2023 edition.
SMC is the majority stake holder in Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, which is the country’s largest carmaker in terms of market share.
“EV is one of the solutions… EVs alone can not be the solution for India. The other solutions can be hybrid and various fuel options like flex fuel etc. The world is moving towards electric but looking at the power supply situation in India, the country can have various other alternatives to EV,” Suzuki said while speaking to reporters on the first day of the event.
We are launching EV products in India but we are not dependent on it, he said, adding that small cars with low levels of CO2 emission can be an alternative and the company sees a lot of potential in terms of demand for small cars in India. With a push from the government, India’s EV market has gained momentum. Among the passenger vehicle companies, Tata Motors leads the chart by offering a wide range of electric cars in its portfolio as well as sales followed by MG Motors, Mercedes and Audi, who offer electric cars in their portfolio.Maruti, however, has said that they would enter into the EV space starting 2025 and unveiled a concept SUV at the Auto Expo.
Suzuki’s viewpoint of not being dependent only on EV is in sync with the Indian government’s strategy that has kept all the options on the table.
Suzuki also acknowledged that the reason behind the decline in market share of Maruti Suzuki is because of its failure to offer SUVs to the consumers.
With a large number of young first-time buyers entering the automobile market, demand for SUVs have risen but for small cars have declined. Maruti offers a large number of small cars or entry-level cars in its portfolio and their sales have not picked up post-COVID.“One of the reasons we could not sustain 50% market share was a delay in launching SUVs at our end,” he said, adding the company is launching more SUVs now.
Suzuki also said that India, through Maruti Suzuki, contributes 50-60% to Suzuki’s global revenue and that number is set to grow further.